CHAPTER 1 – The girl he was bound to protect

Disclaimer: IM J.K. ROWLING! YEA RIGHT! In my dreams...seriously if you believed that then you need to get a checkup at St. Mungo's! Anyway...enjoy chapter 1!

Severus Snape woke with a start. "Blasted necklace!", he thought as he
felt the silver disc grow hot against his skin. An image of Potter, Weasly and Granger approaching Hagrid's hut flashed through his mind. A threshal was walking from the forbidden forest toward them, probably because it smelled the blood on Weasly. He sneered as he remembered the scene in his classroom earlier that day in which Weasly spilled his messed up potion all over his front, causing his fingers and forearms to burst up in boils. He was glad the charm had cooled; it meant the trio was safely inside Hagrid's. It was a miracle he had not gone insane from all those times the
necklace had warned him of impending danger of the Granger girl. He remembered the day that his uncle had handed him the enchanted charm. Humph! More like cursed! Although it was nothing like the dark mark, his other curse, his much more dangerous curse.

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He remembered every detail of the day he had taken the Dark Mark. He had been 18 years old. It seemed like the best decision he could have made at the time. The Dark Lord understood him, had gone through a rough child hood as well, receiving no love from anyone, being accepted by no one. Well, his mother had loved him but was to afraid to show affection to her son, always fearing his father. He kept her secluded, ordered her around, forbid her to have a life. She was nothing but his slave. Severus had been an accident he supposed, an accident his father used to his advantage, explaining off his wife's absence from the world by saying she died after giving birth. But in reality she remained locked
up in the Snape manor, serving his father, until the day he killed her. He had not intended to, of course, but his father was nothing more than a drunk violent man who beat his mother every chance he got, sometimes even beating him. It was on one of those nights in which he came home in a drunken stupor that he had given his mother such a violent beating that he had managed to suck from her the little life she had left. His father didn't even realize she was died until the following morning. He buried her in the backyard of the manor, without even putting a stone to mark her grave. It was then that Severus had known he could feel nothing but hate, for there was to much cruelty in the world.

His father died two days after due to
overdose. He had been eleven. I t was then his uncle took him as he
now was his guardian. He was only there for one summer, a summer in
which he didn't see much of his uncle, a summer which he spent in his
uncle's library poring over all sorts of magical books and potions
journals. And then he was off to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry, glad to be away from the world in which he had suffered so
much. But, Hogwarts had not been for him the wonderful experience it should
have been. Sure, it was great to study magic but he had no friends, again he was alone. No one talked to him except for Potter and his gang, who made fun of him whenever he crossed their paths.

When he was nearing 17 years of age he had tried to go to Dumbledore but the great wizard did not seem to understand him as he had hoped he would. Then again, after years of having no one, it was hard for him to open up to anyone, no matter how great. So he secluded himself once more, spending his free time reading books from the library on his four-poster bed, becoming particularly interested in the dark arts, especially after hearing of a man who called himself Lord Voldemort, who was becoming quite powerful. In that year he indulged himself in learning all he could of the dark arts and Lord Voldemort. On the day he turned 18, a couple of months before his graduation from Hogwarts, he took the dark mark. He did it because Lord Voldemort seemed to understand him, what with their childhoods being similarly deprived of love. Finally he had someone who understood him! Finally someone he could share his pain with! So he was loyal to the Dark Lord, serving him as best he could, wanting to make him proud. He remembered the day when Voldemort himself taught him the wonders of Legimilency and the powers of Occlumency. It had been 7 months after he had joined the Dark Lord, and he felt privileged, for the Dark Lord had shared one of his most powerful secrets with him, something he knew no other Death Eater knew. He knew that the knowledge he knew held was quite powerful. He could get into practically anyone's mind and he could block enemies from his. He did not know then just how much he would need this newly acquired power and how important to his safety it would become.

Shortly after attaining his new skill his uncle had sent for him. The man was dying and apparently he needed to share something of high importance with him. So he found himself apparating at his uncle's bedside. It was then when his uncle had given him the necklace. He remembered his uncle's words clearly. "Severus, unclasp the necklace I'm wearing." He did as he was told, as odd and wholly annoying as this request was (he called giving him some flimsy charm a matter of utter importance?), the man had shown him compassion toward him and taken him in that summer before he started at Hogwarts. "Severus, there is a binding spell on this family. Long ago one of our ancestors watched his beloved die in front of him, killed by one of herown kin. He could not bear the fact that he couldn't protect her, that he couldn't save her. So he cast a spell upon all his descendants. We are to protects all his beloved descendants as he couldn't protect her." He turned the disc over, reading the inscription. 'Snape shall protect Granger forever.' " So it is Grangers we are to protect." "Yes Severus, there is no way to avoid it. Our ancestor, Lawrence, used Protecto Utlimatum" His eyes widened as he heard what his uncle had said. "Protecto ultimatum,"he whispered. Of course he knew what it was but had never heard of any witch or wizard that had used it. And now to find out that his own ancestor…that he was bound to protect some stranger, by the name of Granger…."Uncle…"he began to say, but he noticed then that his uncle had stopped breathing. "Rest in peace," he had said as he put the sheet over his head. He turned to leave but felt pulled back by an invisible force. He turned around and saw he had left the necklace on the nightstand. He picked it up and felt it levitate out of his hand; it started to glow purple and began to float toward him. Without warning it clasped itself around his neck. He doubled over and let out a low hiss as the disc burned against his bare chest. The last moments of his ancestor's life flashed before his eyes an then he blacked out.

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He had awoken a short time later, in which he apparated himself unto his bed, clutching his chest. "How annoyingly bothersome!" he had thought, "something burning my skin like that with no warning." Of course, the Dark Mark did the same thing, but at least that had been of his own volition.

So he continued serving the Dark Lord, but the month after he had gotten the charm proved to be quite difficult. He felt uneasy around the Dark Lord, knowing that if he found out that he was bound to protect a muggle, or worse, possibly a mudblood, the Dark Lord would become infuriated, and would probably kill him.

But the Dark Lord knew everything and although he had mastered Occlumency his master knew that he
was hiding something. That became quite obvious when the Dark Lord attacked a crowd of witches and
wizards in Diagon Alley, along with a handful of Death Eaters, he among them. He got injured badly
and the Dark Lord abandoned him, left him to die, along with two other injured Death Eaters

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He awoke in a place that was all too familiar. He was in the hospital wing at Hogwarts.
He tried to sit up but did it a little to fats and fell back down, grabbing his abdomen as he felt
a sharp pain and the blood oozing out of the bandage.
" Ah, Severus you are awake."
" Professor! You, why am I here? I do not understand sir, after I had, well I joined…" " Do you see now why I regret you ever joined Voldemort? He cares only for himself and his power. His Death Eaters mean nothing to him."
" It is because of this charm sir, he knew I was hiding something, you see there is a curse on my family, we are bound to…" " It is not a curse, Severus, to protect a loved one. Although it happened long ago, a love like that is everlasting. It is powerful. And it is not why Voldemort abandoned you. The man knows not of love, therefore knows nothing of this enchantment. He left you because, as I said, Voldemort cares for no one but himself. You seemed weak, so he left you to die. No doubt if you return he will act as if he had never left you and of course, will expect you
to worship the ground he walks on."
" Of course. But sir you know of this cur...enchantment?"
" Yes, my boy, I knew when I heard of your uncle's poor health you would soon acquire the charm, and of course, be bound by the spell. Now, I suppose you are wondering why you have not been 'called' to a Granger's side in all of these five months. It seems the person who you are to protect is not born yet. It seems that there is more to the enchantment that you saw in the
flashes of Lawrence's last moments. I personally helped your uncle when he inherited the charm. He was a friend of my brother Aberforth and he asked me the favor. During the time I was with your uncle we found out a great deal about this spell that is upon your family." He had simply stared at Dumbledore, digesting all he said. So the old man knew all about the curse! Far more than he knew, that was for sure.

" Now, my boy, if you wish, you can rejoin our side. There is an Order, the Order of the Phoenix, who fights against Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Before you say anything, I want to let you know that you are ready. Your age does not matter, although you would be the youngest member of the Order, you are more qualified than any of us, having worked for, and suffered for Voldemort himself. Two, I understand how hard this position is for you. My suggestion is, if you are up to it, my boy, you can go back to Voldemort, but truly be a spy for the Order. It will be difficult, I will not deny, to be a double agent, but I think that if you completely disassociate from the Dark side, your life will be in grave, grave danger. Voldemort does not forgive those who betray him Severus, I am sure you know that."

He had thought long and hard. It did not take him long to figure out what he was going to do. He was going to join Dumbledore and be a spy for the Order. And that's how he lived. He had told the Dark Lord that he had led Dumbledore to believe he would be a spy for the Order but was truly a spy for him. With Occlumency and Dumbledore's help he managed to keep up the charade, though it proved to be quite difficult at times.
After six months of concentrating just on serving the Order, Dumbledore arranged for him to go to a wizarding college. Dumbledore had gone to the Headmaster of the college, telling him of the " special situation" and set out a plan of how he would attend his classes. He was to apparate into a room that would always be kept empty, and would attend class wearing an invisibility coat, and it was in this way that he mastered in potions, a subject he found fascinating.

By the time he was done with his schooling, Dumbledore had become Headmaster of Hogwarts and he offered him a job as Potions Mater. He accepted, thankful to Dumbledore for being so kind to him. The only thing Dumbledore did not allow was for him to become Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts. He supposed Dumbledore believe it would spark certain thought in his mind, or perhaps he feared that the Dark Lord would try to use him against the students. Either way he knew he would not join the Dark Lord again, he just wished to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, for the subject still interested him. The Dark Lord however, was pleased. A spy in Hogwarts! Right next to the only one he ever feared! (Though he knew the Dark Lord did not mention this, but everyone one, Death Eater or not, knew.) In the Dark Lord's mind, he was penetrating the enemy right under his nose.

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So that was his life. It was all a routine, at least for a year and a half. Six months after his
twenty-second birthday, he felt the charm grow hot against his skin. A hospital room flashed in his mind, in it a woman holding a baby. It had big, round, brown eyes and a matt of untidy brown
hair. 'Hello, my little Hermione' he heard the woman say as the image faded. Immediately he went to Dumbledore. " So you've seen her.' Dumbledore said as he entered his office. The old man did not cease to surprise him. " Yes, sir her name is Hermione Granger, but how did you that she had been born?" " She is a witch, Severus. The minute that a witch or wizard is born the three wizarding schools
are notified. We send information about our school to the family, in case they wish to send their child to a specific school. But seeing as she is muggle-born she will naturally go here, since it is the closest to her. She probably will think witches are hunchbacked old ladies with green skin and warts until the day she receives her letter.'
" How am I to protect her, Headmaster, if she doesn't even know of our world?"
" That, my boy, is for you to decide. However, if you run into trouble protecting the young Granger girl, you may come to me for help."
" Thank you, Headmaster." And so his knew "adventure" began.

He did not really have much to deal with during the young girl's childhood since she did not get into much trouble. The only time she was really in danger was when she got lost one day near dark and he transfigured a nearby object into a cat leading her along until she got home. This caused him to make the mistake of relaxing, thinking this curse might not be so bad after all. Then, she entered Hogwarts. At first everything was proceeded normally until, of course, Halloween. Of course he felt the charm heating under his robes, and he had intended to save Granger from that troll, but he had to make sure Quirrell did not get away with anything. He had gone to the girl's bathroom as fast as he could but Potter and Weasly bat him to it. Unfortunately she had to go and befriend the two boys, who had a certain disregard for the rules. Just like Potter and Black, he thought sourly. Of course they dragged her along and he, of course, had lost quite a number of hours of sleep, because of this. Good thing the girl was smart and could often get her and her friends out of tight situations. There were times, though, in which he could not ignore the warnings the charm gave him. And of course befriending Potter caused her to get caught amidst situations involving the Dark Lord, which were the hardest to work wit, and the
most painful for him at that, what with the necklace burning against his chest and the Dark Mark charring the skin on his left arm. But of course he had to stand by the Dark Lord, Being a spy was a hard and lonely life but this little incantation" made it much harder. He had tried to find a loophole to it but deep inside he knew, even before he started researching, that an enchantment, a curse, such as this was undoable, a but of an unbreakable vow on is own.

He walked to his storage and grabbed a bottle of Dreamless Sleep Draught, measure out a dose and drank it. Falling asleep once more, he looked forward to a day in which he would deduct house points and terrorize his students.

A/N: I am SO sorry it took me, like forever and a day to update! Please, please don't be mad and please bare with me, I have no beta (if you are interested let me know!) I also didn't really pay much attention to proof reading so don't get too mad if i hae horrific errors! For those who reviewed last time thank you THANK YOU! I love you guys!

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